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Show REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF INDIBN AFFAIRS. 5 gress. A special report on this alibjeet will he presented when the required data, reachlhis office. During the past summer there has occurred much correspondence d t h the military authorities in command in the west, with most of which this office has become acquainted through copies furnished by your department, and instlnc-tions have been forwarded to the various superintendents and agents by your direction, requiring them to observe carefully the policy adopted, which may be brieflv staked thus: that where Indians are hostile, the civil authority is to he - J held in abeyance until the measures taken by the military authorities?or quell-ine the outbreak have been conclnded ; that where the Indians are generally qAet and peaceable, hut require prompt action to quell disorder8 among them-selves, or to prevent unlawful interference of white persons with them, the mil-itary are to render assistance when appealed to by the agents; and at all other times the military are not to interfere with the civil contrul of the Indians. Smh a policy as is above indicated is the plain dictate of common sense, and if all officers will but exercise it, there need he no difficulty. Upon some pointe, however, there may be a variance of opinion, which must he settled by supe-rior authority ; as, for instance, the question as to when military force is to com-mence its operationsand taktt the complete control, when the civil agents are of opinion that peaceable measureJ will prevent bloodshed ; and, again, as to where, short of extelmination, tho exercise of military authority is to stop, when the civil authorities have reason to believe that the hostile parties are sufficiently punished. No such difficulty has as yet arisen, and a frank and candid inter-change of views on sucl~p oints will, I am confident, continue the present harmony of aetion, and there is no reason to apprehend any other course from the distin-guished officers in high command in the west, with all of whom the relations of this office have been most coldial and pleasant, though some of their suhordi-nates, in cast* which have heeu from time to time laid before you, have doubtless exceeded their authoritv and caused some trouble. ~ ~~ ~ Several i~pol'talltf r&tir: have bee11 transmitted to yourdepartmrnt front this office durinc rhr paat year. whicll should, I think, mtrt with tbe early att~.tntion of the ~ e n i t ea,n 'd t h i necessarv a~oro~r iat iohnes oromotlv made without wait-ing for the general appropriation 'b'ill.' Amoug t1;ese ale the treaty with the Klamath and Modoc tribes in Oregon, and those with the Omahas and Winne-bagocs, all of which were transmitted to your department shortly after the ad-journment of Congress. The last two, especially, require attention, in older that the measures proposed for the Indians may he put into operation at once; and indeed the other is scarcely less pressing. Besides thesc treaties, there is one llttely forwarded, and of much importance, concluded w~ t hth e Utah Indiana by Superintendent Irish, ext~nguishingth eir claims to the occupancy of nearly the whole of that territory. Mr. Irish's report, sent with this treaty, is very inter- 'eating, and is presented in the accompauying documen$s. Therc is one treaty before the Senate unconfirmed, that last made wit11 the Nee-Pemsa, which should ad, in my opinion, he confiimed, as will more partic-ularly appear in remarks under the head of the superintendency of Idaho ; cir-cnmstauccs in r~gard to the rapid settlbnent of that Territory having made other arrangements necessary. The various treatit* made by the several special commissions during the present autumn will also come before you fo: action. For convenience of reference I recapitulate here, in brief, the various points alluded to in this report as requiring action by Congress, to wit: Legislation with reference to a more strict c)utrol of traders, requiring them to conform to just schedulcs of prices in their salcs to and purchases from the Indians, and providing penalties for connivance with agmts. In regard to prevention of and punishment for the connivance of agents with |